This paper introduces a novel gear–clutch mechanism that takes advantage of the difference between the directions in the reaction forces that occur during meshing and jamming to ensure jam-free engagement of t...
Essential tremor is a disorder that causes involuntary oscillations in patients both while they are engaged in actions and when maintaining a posture. Such patients face serious difficulties in performing dail...
Authors: Yuya Matsumoto, Masatoshi Seki, Yasutaka Nakashima, Takeshi Ando, Yo Kobayashi, Hiroshi Iijima, Masanori Nagaoka and Masakatsu G. Fujie
It is known that the work efficiency of teleoperated construction machinery is lower than that of directly operated machinery. Assistance via automatic control is expected to improve the work efficiency. Howev...
Authors: Takanobu Tanimoto, Kei Shinohara and Hiroshi Yoshinada
In this paper we present an online unsupervised method based on clustering to find defects in concrete structures using hammering. First, the initial dataset of sound samples is roughly clustered using the k-m...
Authors: Jun Younes Louhi Kasahara, Hiromitsu Fujii, Atsushi Yamashita and Hajime Asama
When a human rubs a contactor that is vibrating laterally at 3–10 Hz with an amplitude of ~1 mm, the friction is perceived as being greater than that sensed when touching a stationary contactor. This phenomeno...
Authors: Akihiro Imaizumi, Shogo Okamoto and Yoji Yamada
Arc-shaped forceps are important in pharyngeal cancer surgery, endoscopic sinus surgery, and single port surgery. Rotating the gripper of an arc-shaped forceps with respect to its shaft axis can improve the ma...
Authors: Satsuya Noda, Toshio Takayama and Toru Omata
The purpose of this research is the development of a robot partner system based on modular cognitive model for human support. In order to implement information support of daily life to human, smooth human–robo...
Authors: Jinseok Woo, János Botzheim and Naoyuki Kubota
An effective strategy for walking over rough terrain, flat plane, and wreckage includes transitioning from quadrupedal to bipedal locomotion. In this study, we designed a trunk mechanism that provides successf...
Most of the long-reach inspection devices developed so far have a limitation in the reduction of their diameter when their length is increased. This limitation is due to the technology used to provide the actu...
Authors: Jose A. Silva Rico, Gen Endo, Shigeo Hirose and Hiroya Yamada
We discuss about safe tree felling methods. In previous work, tree felling robots that were equipped with cutting instruments have been investigated in order to keep workers’ safety. However, these robots may ...
Authors: Chyon Hae Kim, Hiroaki Abe, Akio Numakura, Jyunpei Koyama and Yukio Takahashi
It was cleared that transportability of emergency response robots system had been very important. Therefore, RESQ series robots, which were developed by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (present, Japan A...
Authors: Shinji Kawatsuma, Ryuji Mimura and Hajime Asama
This paper presents a non-contact manipulation method using rotational flow generated by high speed motion of a glass needle. In order to generate an applicable motion that can precisely control the speed and ...
Authors: Eunhye Kim, Masaru Kojima, Liu Xiaoming, Takayuki Hattori, Kazuto Kamiyama, Yasushi Mae and Tatsuo Arai
For elderly and physically disabled people, support systems that assist their active daily life are as important as appropriate rehabilitation. We have designed a rotational meshing actuator for a life support...
Authors: Mai Endo, Mitsuru Endo and Takao Kakizaki
We propose a position and inclination controlling method for a passive object using an active plate. Previously, we proposed a novel manipulation scheme that can control a passive object’s orientation using an...
Authors: Tadayoshi Aoyama, Qingyi Gu, Takeshi Takaki and Idaku Ishii
This paper describes a skill assist method for sinusoidal motions using a semi-active assist mechanism through an energy control method. In a previous study, we had developed and verified the effectiveness of ...
Authors: Takashi Kusaka, Takayuki Tanaka and Hidekazu Kajiwara
Hydraulic actuators have high power-to-weight ratios, making them suitable for high-power robotic applications such as in walking robots and construction machines. However, large frictional forces in hydraulic...
Recently, researches on electric vehicle are focused on motion control and state estimation. These works require a model that imitate a real vehicle as close as possible. We propose in this paper a signal hard...
A mechanism that allows a robotic arm to quickly grip various forms of objects at disaster sites will enhance the mobility of rescue robots by keeping their bodies stable and maintaining manipulability for tar...
Authors: Eri Takane, Kenjiro Tadakuma, Tomonari Yamamoto, Masashi Konyo and Satoshi Tadokoro
In this paper, we have dealt with the problem to transport large heavy objects using a group of small mobile robots. Generally, payload of the robot, the maximum weight of the object that the robot can operate...
Authors: Fusao Ohashi, Kohei Kaminishi, Jorge David Figueroa Heredia, Hiroki Kato, Taiki Ogata, Tatsunori Hara and Jun Ota
Service robots are common sights in everyday life. The service robots are expected to provide useful services with a high degree of usability, and a high degree of user experience (UX) to users and other perso...
Authors: Yoshinobu Akimoto, Eri Sato-Shimokawara, Yasunari Fujimoto and Toru Yamaguchi
A new wire mechanism called “redundant drive wire mechanism” (RDWM), driven by double actuator modules (DAMs) is introduced. When RDWM is used for producing multi-directional motions using DAMs, the number of ...
Authors: Tam Nhat Le, Hiroki Dobashi and Kiyoshi Nagai
In an automobile assembly line, many processes require control and human intervention. A human’s dexterity and ability to react to unpredictable changes in production volume and product specifications are nece...
Authors: Jun Kinugawa, Akira Kanazawa and Kazuhiro Kosuge
This study proposes new wire mechanism called “the redundant drive wire mechanism” (RDWM), driven by double actuator modules. The RDWM is configured with velocity constraint modules (VCMs) that provide high-ac...
Authors: Tam Nhat Le, Hiroki Dobashi and Kiyoshi Nagai
The social need for robotic technology is rapidly increasing to prepare for the aging society in Japan. Many political action plans concerning Japan’s robot strategy have been proposed and carried out nationwi...
Authors: Yoshiaki Itoh, Toru Yamazaki, Hun-ok Lim and Kenichi Takemura
In some surveillance missions in the aftermath of disasters, the use of a teleoperated tracked vehicle contributes to the safety of rescue crews. However, because of its insufficient traversal capability, the ...
A remarkable number of vitreoretinal surgeries are performed each year despite their difficulty. As a result, a high demand exists for a mock-up simulator of retinal vessels to simulate these surgeries. Thus, ...
This paper presents a redundant musculoskeletal robot using thin McKibben muscles that is based on human anatomy. The purpose of this robot is to achieve motions and characteristics that are very similar to a ...
Authors: Shunichi Kurumaya, Koichi Suzumori, Hiroyuki Nabae and Shuichi Wakimoto
The problem of demographic shifts towards the elderly is deteriorating, as the relative number of caregivers is insufficient to provide the support required for their wellbeing, which is further aggravated by ...
Authors: Noel Nuo Wi Tay, Azhar Aulia Saputra, János Botzheim and Naoyuki Kubota
We deal with a technical issue of assembling a ring part into a shaft part with the clearance of several micrometers by using a robotic manipulator. This issue is difficult because of deformation of a ring par...
Authors: Tomoya Fukukawa, Junji Takahashi and Toshio Fukuda
This paper considers the fast and accurate estimation of motion variables of a rigid body object whose movement occurs from intermittent contacts with coordinating manipulators in nonprehensile manipulation ta...
We propose a motion control interface system for a mobile robotic cart to support Home Oxygen Therapy (HOT) patients when they go out. Our goal is to realize a mobile robotic cart similar to a wheeled walker t...
Authors: Masatsugu Iribe, Naoto Maeta, Gen Endo, Toshio Takubo, Mineko Ohira and Tetsuya Kinugasa
In this paper, an optimal jerk stiffness controller is proposed to produce stable gait pattern generation for bipedal robots in rough terrain. The optimal jerk controller is different from the point-to-point a...
An additional mechanical mechanism for a passive parallelogram-based exoskeleton arm-support is presented. It consists of several levers and joints and an attached extension coil spring. The additional mechani...
Authors: Ruprecht Altenburger, Daniel Scherly and Konrad S. Stadler
This paper discusses a force sensing method using a built-in position sensing system for an electrostatic visuo-haptic display. The display provides passive haptic feedback on a flat panel visual monitor, such...
In order to clarify the mechanics of human swimming, a full-body swimming humanoid robot called “SWUMANOID” was developed as an experimental platform for research about human swimming. SWUMANOID had a detailed...
The research described herein was undertaken to develop and test a novel tongue interface based on classification of tongue motions from the surface electromyography (EMG) signals of the suprahyoid muscles det...
In this paper, we discuss development of a sprawling-type quadruped robot named TITAN-XIII which is capable of high speed and energy efficient walking. We consider a sprawling-type quadruped robot is practical...
Authors: Satoshi Kitano, Shigeo Hirose, Atsushi Horigome and Gen Endo
Problems can often occur when a legged robot attempts to walk on irregular or damaged terrain, such as in search and rescue missions during natural and man-made disasters. In some cases, the ground beneath the...
Most two-wheeled robots have algorithms that control balance by assuming constant contact with the ground. However, such algorithms cannot confer stability in robots deployed on non-continuous ground terrain. ...
In this report, we propose a system to be used as a basis for the efficient gathering of information on sidewalk usage and services for the purpose of building a system to support social infrastructures throug...
Authors: Shin-yo Muto, Yukihiro Nakamura, Hideaki Iwamoto, Tatsuaki Ito and Manabu Okamoto
Restoring human hand function by mechatronic means is very challenging in robotics research. In this paper, we first make a brief review on the development of dexterous robotic/prosthetic hands, and then detai...
Authors: Hong Liu, Dapeng Yang, Shaowei Fan and Hegao Cai
Increased attention has been focused on laparoscopic surgery because of its minimal invasiveness and improved cosmetic properties. However, the procedure of laparoscopic surgery is considerably difficult for s...
Authors: Yang Cao, Satoshi Miura, Quanquan Liu, Yo Kobayashi, Kazuya Kawamura, Shigeki Sugano and Masakatsu G. Fujie
Here we propose and verify the feasibility of a new keyboard structure for keyboard-mounted mouse. Reducing the distance that fingers move while typing within a three-dimensional (3-D) key arrangement that fit...
Authors: Tomohiro Suzuki, Satoshi Miura, Yo Kobayashi and Masakatsu G. Fujie
Gas/liquid phase changes produce large volume changes in working fluids. These volume changes are used as the driving power sources in actuators such as micro-pumps and valves. Most of these actuators are uti...
Authors: Hiroki Matsuoka, Koichi Suzumori and Takefumi Kanda
In neurosurgery, dissection and retraction are basic techniques for approaching the site of pathology. These techniques are carefully performed in order to avoid damage to nerve tissues or blood vessels. Howev...
Authors: Kazuya Sase, Akira Fukuhara, Teppei Tsujita and Atsushi Konno
In this study, a method for landmark selection from image streams captured by a camera mounted on a mobile robot is described. To select stable visual landmarks for mobile robots, two measures regarding landma...
Large debris created after natural disasters restrict access to inner parts of affected regions, and slows down disaster relief operations. Power shovels are often used to clear wreckage but the process can ta...
Authors: Peshala G. Jayasekara and Hitoshi Arisumi
The intelligent space (iSpace) is a representative extensive environmental system. In the iSpace, various Distributed Intelligent Networked Devices (DINDs) are installed for the provision of useful services. T...
Authors: JongSeung Park, Toshitake Nunogaki and Joo-Ho Lee
The aim of this study was to obtain quantitative results about shoulder contact force during wheelchair lever propulsion when the gear ratio of the lever propulsion mechanism is changing. The effect of the gea...
